Homan delivers in Fort victory

FORT RECOVERY — Four minutes into the fourth quarter Friday, Will Homan lost a fumble at the Indians’ 25-yard line.

He and his defensive teammates limited the Blue Jays to 4 yards on four plays to get possession back with 6 minutes, 19 seconds, left in a tie game.

Homan wanted the ball.

“I’m thinking, ‘If I get the ball again I’m just going to score a touchdown,’” he said. “‘I’m tired of this. I just want to the end the game.’”

His coaches didn’t hesitate to call his number.

He delivered on his promise.

Homan, a Fort Recovery High School senior, broke free at the 35-yard line and burst up the middle of the field before making his way down the left sideline, absorbing a hit inside the Blue Jays’ 5 yard line and backpedaling across the goal line for the eventual game-winning touchdown as Fort Recovery defeated the Delphos St. John’s Blue Jays, 21-14.

“The line opened up enough where I could get through, then it was safety (and) corner,” said Homan, who finished with 317 yards on 25 carries and scored all three of his team’s touchdowns. “I wasn’t going to get tackled by the safety and corner on that run at all.”

The win moves Fort Recovery to 4-3 on the season and 3-2 in Midwest Athletic Conference play, keeping alive the Tribe’s hopes of making the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.

“It was awesome,” Homan said of the victory. “You know that game means a lot to us because we have to keep winning to get into the playoffs. That was a good team … We knew they were going to be tough, we came in here, hung with them and got the W.”

Homan’s 317 rushing yards ranks third in school history for yards in a game. Mason Evers has the top two totals at 355 and 328, with Homan holding the fourth (275) and fifth (242) spots.

“They were really crowding the box,” said FRHS coach Brent Niekamp, whose team was celebrating homecoming. “When he did bust through he was gone.”

Homan had seven carries of 10 or more yards, including a 52-yard touchdown on the game’s opening drive that put Fort Recovery out front, 7-0.

“Our offensive line did a great job of just pushing them and pickup up everybody that we could block and getting Will to their unblocked guys.

“You can’t block everybody. There’s always going to be one guy left for the ball carrier and Will took care of that guy. I guess that’s how you draw it up. I’m really proud of what those guys did up front and that’s important.”

St. John’s (4-3, 2-3 MAC) tied the game in the second quarter on a 4-yard run by Troy Schwinnen. The drive began as Collin Will stepped in front of a Clay Schmitz pass for the second of three Fort Recovery turnovers.

The Blue Jays marched 47 yards in six plays to tie the score for the only points they got off of their three takeaways.

Fort Recovery nabbed a 14-7 lead in the third quarter after St. John’s had its opening drive of the second half stall on the FRHS 36-yard line.

Homan rushed for 13 yards on the Tribe’s first play of the second half, and Cade Wendel went for five yards. Then Homan broke another big run, getting free at the DSJ 30-yard line before being dragged down from behind at the 3. On the next play, the shifty senior went around the left end for his second score.

St. John’s tied it up again in the early part of the fourth quarter on a 2-yard TD run from Jared Wurst. The DSJ quarterback used his legs to cover 18 of the Blue Jays’ 68 yards on the drive, while using his arm to account for 43 more.

Wurst completed 14 of his 28 pass attempts for 138 yards and had 21 carries for 98 yards.

And after Homan’s go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, St. John’s went three-and-out. Fort Recovery’s ensuing possession stalled after eight plays as the Blue Jays took over on their own 34 yard line with 1:21 left. Three plays later, Caden Will intercepted a Wurst pass with 40 seconds remaining to seal the win.

“That was huge for our defense to do that,” Niekamp said. “This year we’ve had trouble, we’ve given up a lot of yards and we’ve given up a lot of points.

“Overall it was a good win. Any time you can get a team that is well coached, disciplined, just a solid football team like Delphos, any time you can get them it is a good win.”